3 Thoughts on the Real World

1. I always hated when teachers would say, “In the real world . . . ” to justify practices that felt unjust. Or they would say, “Life isn’t fair,” to explain away something wrong within the classroom. In the real world there are people who fight on the side of justice. In the real world, there are people who believe in compassion.

2. In the real world, grownups drink and operate vehicles (though hopefully not at the same time). They procreate. They pay the mortgage. They vote. I don’t want kids doing any of those things.

3. The real world is great, but I want a good portion of life to be chiseled out for fantasy. If there isn’t room for a few unicorns and wizards then life just got way too boring.

I think that I’d actually like kids to vote, if not for the real elections, then for elections that matter. I think you learn about Democracy by actually participating in it.

I wonder about the nature of our curriculum. Should it be a balance between fantasy and fun, versus relevant (ie. based on things kids will do in their life)? I don’t want to have students engaged in competition in schools “because they’ll have to compete in the real world” but I do want them to attempt to plan for a future selves’ retirement (which is something that too few adults do).